The current mortgage crisis has countless homeowners facing the possible foreclosure. It was estimated that in April of 2008, 1 of 194 American homeowners had been issued a foreclosure filing. Is there government help to stop foreclosure? Many families that are facing foreclosure are asking this question.

While congress continues to debate about what to do with America’s mortgage crisis there is currently some government help to stop foreclosure.

HUD provides homeowners with referral resources and education. HUD services are provided on a sliding scale. HUD counseling may indeed prove to be helpful when the time comes to negotiate workout plans with your lender. HUD counselling will also educate you about your options and might be able to provide assistance if you suspect that your mortgage lender is not acting in good faith. HUD resources are current and they maintain an active list of government programs that will provide relief to anxious homeowners.

If you have been the unfortunate victim of a flood or other storm related or natural disaster, FEMA could possibly provide assistance with financial burdens that are related losses incurred as a result of the natural disaster. Obviously this situation will not apply to the vast majority of homeowners, but there are many homeowners that do qualify for this assistance and are not aware that it is available.
Federal Housing Administration (FHA)

Another agency that provides government help to stop foreclosure is The FHASecure Program. This program is in place to assist homeowners that have fallen behind on mortgage payments due to an interest only loans or an adjustable rate mortgage. This program will assist homeowners with refinancing their adjustable rate mortgages to fixed rate mortgages. The FHASecure program is operational due to the assistance of mortgage lenders that provide these new loans to troubled homeowners.

This program may not be for everyone. Homeowners that are already in a fixed rate loan due not qualify and those that are initially eligible will still have to go through the lenders qualification process. What this really means is that you will likely need to have reasonably good credit and have some equity in your home in order to be able to use FHASecure program.

Is there any more government help to stop foreclosure?

Aside from the above listed government programs, there are other ways that property owners that are facing foreclosure can get help qufrom their mortgage lender. This route the best solution and the most common for many homeowners. By communicating with your mortgage lender’s loss mitigation department and discussing your problems, you might be very surprised to discover that most lenders will help negotiate a plan that will enable you to bring your loan up to a current status and set more affordable payments.

Good communication and a proactive plan is the key when it comes to successfully avoiding foreclosure. If you know you are going to fall behind or soon as you do fall behind, get on the phone and create open lines of communication with your lender. If you are proactive, your lender can likely help you resolve and stop foreclosure using a variety of private resources they have available. Keep in mind that your lender really does not want to foreclose on your property any more that you want them to. Always start with your lender in the event that you do not qualify for government help to stop foreclosure.

What happens during foreclosure?

Bank foreclosure is a process that happens quite often, when homeowners are not making their mortgage payments on time and the bank that they got their mortgage through moves forward and takes the home to sell it in order to receive the funds that they are owed.

Obviously what happens during foreclosure is a very awful thing, something that no homeowner ever wants to deal with, but if you want to avoid it there are a few things that you are going to need to realize and a few important steps that you will need to take.

Don’t Ignore the Problem

If you do start getting bank foreclosure statements in the mail, it is important that you do not ignore them. This is actually the last thing that you want to do because what happens during foreclosure the bank is going to think that you do not care and are probably going to move forward with the process as quickly as possible.

On the other hand, if you want to stop foreclosure before it happens, you will want to contact them and let them know what is going on. The sooner you do this the better, and you really want to keep them abreast of the situation and they will probably be more than willing to work with you and come to some sort of an agreement in terms of repayment.

Know Your Mortgage Rights

In order to make sure that you have the most success with the bank foreclosure issue, you must be aware of all your mortgage rights. Find your loan documents and read them so that you know what your options are and in particular know what your lender is able to do if you are not making your payments.

This will vary from one situation to another, so never assume that just because bank foreclosure for one of your friends went one way that it will go the same for you.

Obviously these are all helpful once you have started getting into foreclosure, after you have not been making payments, but the best way of course is to make sure that you make all your mortgage payments in a timely manner so that the foreclosure issue is one you will never have to worry about to begin with.

Budgeting is one of the most crucial steps, something that all homeowners need to do if they want to ensure that they are bringing in enough money, not spending too much, and getting all of their bills paid on time. You can find out more about what happens during foreclosure by reading the post about timeline for foreclosure.

If you want to stop the foreclosure proceedings you must be willing to achieve the knowledge that you will need in order to do so. Honestly the timeline for foreclosure is different in every state.  As a homeowner it is in your best interest that you fully understand and know the total foreclosure process, not just timeline for foreclosure.

Many people lack knowledge and are generally uninformed.  This lack of knowledge can end up being devastating. As you may know, without proper knowledge you will likely end up on the bad end of any deal. Many homeowners do not understand that there are sharks out there disguised as real estate investors and attorneys that will rob you blind. These sharks stand to gain a large amount of money from your misfortune. Unfortuneatly, they know how to use the “legal” system to acheive their gains,  and this can falsely convince you that is just the way it it is supposed to go.

The timeline for foreclosure will basically follow these gudelines. The foreclosure timeline begins when you are one day late on your mortgage payment. Usually at this point no penalties have accrued yet. If you do not your payment in full within 16-30 days a late charge will be tacked on to your payment.  At this point you will likely hear from the lender.  They will want to know why you haven’t sent your mortgage payment.

If your mortgage payment is 30 days or more late, you will be classified as in default of your mortgage loan.  Being in default simply means you are late with your mortgage payments. If you do not pay your loan payment after thirty days, your lender may decide to exercise their rights to take possession of your house.

There is no need to panic. Stay in contact with the lender during the foreclosure process.  Most lenders do not want to repossess the home and may be willing to assist you if they can.  The remainder of the timeline for foreclosure is as follows:  the lender will typically file a Notice of Default if the borrower is in excess of 30 days behind on payment in accordance with the terms of the mortgage loan agreement. Between the 45th to 60th day, the lender will send a “breach” letter to the borrower.  This letter states the terms of the mortgage aggreement.  This letter will inform the borrower that only 30 days are allowed to find a resolution for broken loan aggreement. During this period, the mortgage collection department will be making frequent phone calls to the borrower.  They will likely offer several options for the borrower to help resolve the predicament they are in.  they will usually offer a loan modification or a payment plan to bring the payments to a current status.

Somewhere between the 60th and 90th days, an official notice of default will be delivered to the borrower.  Collection costs will likely be added to the late fees. The defaulted loan will be referred to the lender’s legal department.  The legal department will prepare and send the required documents to a local attorney and this will begin the foreclosure proceedings. The last leg of the timeline for foreclosure occurs between day 150 and day 415. The borrowers home will be scheduled for sale at a foreclosure sale or a foreclosure auction after a Notice of Trustee Sale is filed. There are certain benchmarks that must be adhered to during a foreclosure process because a foreclosure proceedings is a legal event. Advertisement of the upcoming foreclosure should be posted in the local papers, once the case is handed over to local attorneys. The borrower or homeowner has every right to halt the process leading up to the foreclosure of the property.  Most states do have laws regarding that. During the pre-foreclosure period, many states will give a chance for the borrower to purchase the property if they have the financial means, but the majority of homeowners or will be forced from their housse by the local sheriffs department.